The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Social network applications having instant messaging function have been widely in use. Remote users can communicate with one another through instant messaging over the web in real time. The users often send emoticons together with text-based messages to make the instant messaging more interesting.
A typical method of sending an emoticon generally requires several steps. To send an emoticon that is not included in any of the default emoticon packs installed in the user's device, a user needs to go to an emoticon library homepage that includes a list of emoticon packs and download a desired emoticon pack to the user's device. When the download is completed, the user needs to return to a contact list page, select a contact from the contact list, and obtain a chat window. After the chat window is displayed, the user needs to click an emoticon display icon to open an emoticon display area, selects the downloaded emoticon pack to display the plurality of emoticons in the emoticon display area, and selects and sends one of the plurality of emoticons to the contact. The typical method requires several steps and significant time from downloading the emoticon pack to the user' device to sending the emoticon to a contact.